What Happens When Screen Goes Black?

The abrupt black-out and 10 seconds that follows before the credits is telling.

I would love to believe the family lived happily ever after, but there's no sign of that. If the screen faded out and went to the credits instantly, I'd say they did. But I believe there's no reason for a silent black-out so abrupt and long unless it's meant to represent death and "not even hearing it when it happens."

It doesn't matter whether he lived or died. Tony and his family have come full circle - and their destinies are the same as they would have been back at the beginning of the show, despite how badly Tony wanted it to be different from that.

At their conclusive dinner, A.J. reminds Tony that he told his son to always "Hold on to the good times." But Tony can't do that anymore, because he's haunted. Potential assassins are everywhere, as that final scene so viscerally demonstrated. Whether he lives, dies, gets indicted, or goes senile, he's doomed to unhappiness. That's as close to an ending as any real artist needs to get.

Furthermore:

As Matt Zoller Seitz puts it, "Chase's attitude toward people .. [is that] they are what they are, they rarely change, and when they do, they stay changed for as long as it takes to realize that they were more comfortable with their old selves, at which point they revert." Tony Soprano is a mobster, born and raised - or made, if you will - and a mobster is what he decides to remain; in his beginning was his end.

The Sopranos was a show about whether the Soprano family, both nuclear and extended, escapes damnation, and the ending answers the only question that matters: They don't.

Those of you who care about what did or didn't happen when the screen went black are missing that.

Having said that, either Tony died or life continued - and if you add up every clue in the last three episodes, it suggests Tony's dead or may as well be dead.

I chose other if for anything else, Tony faced a bleak future. As noted in other posts here and elsewhere, Tony could still face being murdered and has that underlying fear for the rest of his life. Then again, he has had to face that most of his life and had to kill people he knew to protect himself. It could be by people on Phils's side in a endless pattern of revenge or even from his own mob family in a power struggle. He may face a purgatory or hell of mental illness like his mom or Junior. He may face illness or a health crises, his body already damaged for life and comprimised by the shooting by Junior. His father died of lung disease and related heart disease. He could face a stroke or a brain anuraism from his heavy weight and life pressures with it stress on the body. He could also face something he never faced (and well pointed out throughout the series) - a long jail term. He also has to face the neverending problems of his own nuclear family. Like the cat shown in the episode, he has or is close to having used up his 'nine lives'

I hate to say it, but it makes sense that the last scene we see Tony, looking at Tony, which could mean we are supposed to look through his eyes. The fear, always afraid...whatever. I would have had any other ending, but I never get my way...lol. So I think Meadow sat down, ate an onion ring.

Going through the "five stages" was good for me. But now I am in 5b. THe WHATEVER I wanted it to be stage.

[font="Book Antiqua"][SIZE="3"][color="DarkSlateBlue"]I didn’t want to show crime pays, I didn’t want to show crime doesn’t pay...David Chase on the ending[/color][/SIZE][/font]

Tony eventually in the unwritten future, dies, of a heart attack. All the pressure and the lack of caring for himself, add up. He is boss, he can't take up jogging, can he? I don't picture body guards following behind, he is not the POTUS and has secret service. His survival other without a hit is possible, he is interested in earning, not exactly territory or gaining more power. The other families are interested in similar things, safer that way, work out a deal.

Let me clarify some things for everybody. People keep saying that nobody had any reason to whack Tony at the end. Thats wrong. NY OK'd the Phil hit, but NEVER in front of personal family like that. Tony was indeed killed, meticulously waiting for all members of Tony's family to arrive at the diner so that they all witnessed the hit. For the NY mob boss to go out like that re-opened some personal feelings which caused him to have the favor returned.

Phil was killed when he least expected it, saying "bye bye, grandpop" to his grandkids, in front of his real family. The only logical payback would be to return the favor to the Soprano family.

David Chase spelled it out pretty clear with the Bobby conversation about everything going black. And the nail in the coffin is the way the final scene went down. Each Soprano arrived, one by one, to meet Tony. When the final piece was in place, i.e. Meadow walking thru the door, the bathroom guy put a bullet thru his head. That’s why he kept eyeing up the family, watching the table fill with each Soprano. When he heard Carm mention that Meadow was on her way, her retreated to the bathroom to get ready for a clean shot. Even the circumstances were the same as Phils hit, i.e. Tony was totally happy and off-gaurd, chatting with his family, and things were good between them all for once. The hits of each mob boss was earily similar. Each boss was killed by a virtual nobody from the other family (that’s why we don’t recognize the shady looking guy). Phil was killed by a low ranking member of Tony’s crew, and vice versa. Tony was killed; the family watched it happen. That was the payback.

If Tony does get killed--you're looking in the wrong direction--it's not the NY families.

It's a move from inside. Spearheaded by Carlo.

NY has more interest in keeping the status quo--at least for now. Business suffered during the war. It'll suffer more if they take out Tony, especially for the lame reason that he killed Phil in front of family. That's not a sufficient reason to take him out at this particular point in time. There's no clear line of succession--Chris and Bobby are dead, Sil's as good as dead, and everyone knows that Paulie doesn't have the grey matter to be boss. NY taking him out sparks a power struggle, bodies keep hitting the street and business suffers some more.

Everyone's thinking Carlo flipped. But he could have just as easily "gone to ground" as Sil said, waiting for the move on Tony. Tony's loyalists--guys who'll fight Carlo's take-over to the death--are few and far between. Paulie's reluctance to accept his promotion could be based on waiting to see which way the wind blows. Paulie's a survivor, and while he ain't the sharpest tool in the shed, he has good instincts. Remember, it was Burt who was quietly approaching Sil and "others" about joining "new management". Everyone's thinking that it was Phil reaching out, but it could have just as easily be coming from the inside. Burt's reaching out preceded the scene where Phil "reaches his decision" about there being "no scraps in his scrapbook". Most of the remaining crews will accept Carlo as the new boss. Soldiers care less about who the boss is than capos, and almost all of Tony's loyal capos are dead, or as good as.

Carlo moving on Tony. NY quietly acquiescing in it, not really caring who runs NJ as long as there's stability and no disruption of business. There's the logical theory behind Tony getting hit in the diner.